


The Rules of Pai Sho

by Combefoxy



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6409048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Combefoxy/pseuds/Combefoxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami teaches Korra how to play Pai Sho the way her dad taught her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rules of Pai Sho

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing anything for LoK. I own nothing. The Pai Sho rules used are taken from discussions held by the members of Lotus Gambit Pai Sho and my own ideas of how the game should be played.

"You can only drop a tile on a _neutral_ intersection so yellow or a gate," Asami said gently while removing her opponent's tile from the board.She suppressed a grin as her opponent sighed heavily and put her chrysanthemum at the top of her home gate.

"Why are the rules you play by so complex? I thought Bolin said it was a game of speed and chance," Korra whined making Asami grin even more.

"Because my rules are the way my father taught me. You know he was a complex man. Besides you need to know many different versions of the game if you ever hope to cross Pai Sho rule standardization off your list," Asami said as she captured the chrysanthemum her girlfriend had just played. "And that's game."

"Wait, how?" Korra starred at the board. They had agreed that for the sake of learning the game, they would set the capture limit at ten pieces. The Water Tribe girl had captured two, and her opponent took the other eight. Asami looked at the board and quickly tallied up the points.

"Okay, you get three points for valid harmonies currently on the board. I get five. I also get another four points for having the most captures."

"Ugh. Rematch!" Korra said reclaiming her tiles. Sapphire eyes met jade ones for an intense moment before Asami closed the distance between them giving Korra a quick peck on the lips and a devilish grin.

"You're on, but this time we play the full twenty capture version."

"Bring it." The engineer moved first. Then the Avatar moved. Play continued for another twenty minutes before Korra triumphantly yelled, "Game over." She crossed her arms confidently as Asami tallied up the points.

"Nice work. You're starting the get the hang of capture I see. Seven and a half points for having fifteen captures. You need to work on your harmonies though. You only get four points there. While I take home the bacon yet again with fifteen points for harmonies."

"But you only have… uh… oh. You have a harmony ring."

"Yes, Korra, as much fun as capturing is, the whole game is a huge metaphor. You must create the harmony you wish to see."

\---

"But, Dad, why can't I just capture all of the pieces?" Asami whined.

"Because that's not the point of the game, darling," Yasuko called from the other room where she was preparing tea for her husband and six year old daughter.

"Your mother's right. You want to create harmonies while also capturing pieces. The only way to secure victory is to do both. By knowing that you prefer to capture, as a player, I can therefore focus my attention on creating harmonies to give myself the point advantage once you've taken all the tiles you can before the game ends," Hiroshi said chuckling as he moved his lily to the white central gardens. "Your move, princess."

"No one's moving yet. Tea's ready," Yasuko said pulling up a chair and handing out the cups. "Now, Asami, how many of Daddy's pieces have you taken already?"

"Eleven."

"Good, that's more than half the captures which means you're guaranteed five and a half points. Now you want to focus on your harmonies. Create the harmonies you wish to see and use the other tiles to capture your father's interfering ones." She picked up a knotweed tile.

"Nope. You're not the one playing, my darling. We non-benders don't need the elemental tiles to have an exciting game," Hiroshi teased his wife. "Don't worry you'll get your turn soon enough."

"I'd better. And you, little lady, had better get off to bed. It's getting late."

Asami yawned, "I'm not sleepy, mommy. Can I at least finish the game?"

"Oh fine, but just this once." Asami smiled and placed an orchid on the board. Half an hour later the child was curled up under the table asleep three captures away from the end of the game.

"Well, she tried. Princess, it's time for bed," Hiroshi said picking up his daughter trying not to wake her.

"Take her upstairs. I'll be up to tuck her in in a moment. I just need to clean up the teacups," Yasuko whispered.

Hiroshi was halfway up the grand staircase of the Sato mansion when the sound of breaking glass startled him.

"Yasuko, was that you?" he shouted glancing around. Looking down the stairs he saw three figures in black moving through the darkened room. A blast of fire from the darkness sent him running for cover. "Yasuko!" A clatter rang out from the kitchen as the young firebender ran to guard the stairs.

"Get Asami to safety. I'll hold them off." Hiroshi nodded to his wife and ran. All of the shouting woke Asami and she started crying. Looking over her father's shoulder as he carried her away she could see flames shooting everywhere and her mother in the middle of them desperately shooting flames at the attackers.

"What about mommy?" she cried to Hiroshi.

"She'll be okay, princess. She'll be okay," he replied pleading for it to only be true, She was out numbered three to one and no match for those firebenders, but he knew he had to trust her and get their child to the safety of his workshop. Once he settled the girl, he returned to the house. He looked around. The gang members had fled, but when he reached the top of the stairs, he found Yasuko amongst several charred plants.

"Is Asami safe?" she coughed. Hiroshi nodded tears welling up behind his spectacles. "Good. Take good care of her and yourself. Give this to her," she said pulling out the knotweed tile. "They burned the rest of the board and pieces while attacking the kitchen, but this one was in my pocket. Hiroshi, I love you. Don't forget this." As Hiroshi took the tile from her, he felt her body tense suddenly then go limp.

"I love you too, darling. We both do."

\---

"Asami, darling, you okay?" Korra asked. Her girlfriend was clutching a tile tightly in her hand. They had given up on the game after seven successive matches all dominated by the Sato girl and were now placing bets on what tile they would draw out of the drawstring bag. The green eyed girl dropped the tile on the floor. She didn't seem to notice. She just continued to stare blankly at the wall behind the Avatar. Korra looked at the plant on the tile and scooted next to the other girl. Without a word she placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and left it there.

\---

After Yasuko's death, Hiroshi became detached and threw himself into his company. He worked day and night in his workshop even sleeping there. He hired a nanny to take care of his daughter and had her trained by the best self-defense instructors in Republic City. Every year on her mother's birthday, Asami would sit by her grave and draw pictures of her mother's inventions. The Satomobile may have been her father's idea, but much of the design was her mother's.

When Asami turned twelve her father introduced her to the power tools in his workshop and gave her a key.

"Go forth and conquer, Asami. You have a mind that can change the world, and I want you to be able to use the resources at your fingertips," Hiroshi said with a smile as he walked her through exactly how each and every tool worked, why it worked, and how it could be serviced should it break. "I"ll leave you here. If you need me, I'll be in my office doing paperwork."

"Okay, Dad," Asami said not really listening. She had had an idea for her first project for years and was making a list of materials in her head. Her nanny had taken the knotweed tile and made it into a pendant for her. She fingered this as she looked at the rows and rows of wood. She grabbed a two foot by two foot solid oak plank and began work cutting it down. She worked tirelessly all day and into the night for a week. She cut and sanded and stained then cut some more and repeated the process until she was happy with the final result.

When Hiroshi's birthday rolled around, Asami carefully wrapped her project in a piece of red silk and knocked on her father's office door. "Happy birthday, Dad. Are you free for a bit?"

"Yes. I'm finished for the day. What do you need? Help with a design? I saw the blue prints on your desk, and I have a few suggestions for you."

She shook her head and pulled out her parcel. "This is for you." Hiroshi untied the silk and a beautifully hand-crafted Pai Sho board and bag of pieces sat on his desk. "I was wondering if you would consider playing. I know you haven't since… but please?" Hiroshi nodded and poured out all of the tiles. Asami divided the tiles between the two of them and placed the elemental tiles off to the side.

"No, Asami, it's time you learned how to play with these. You should know in case you marry a bender who will want to play this way." He smiled a little, and for the first time in six years Asami saw her father return to life even if it was only for a brief hour.

\---

Asami's memory lingered on that moment of happiness and she smiled. It was all bittersweet. She had just gotten him back only to lose him permanently at the hands of Kuvira. She looked over at Korra and gave her a weak smile. Korra simply nodded and cleaned up the board and tiles. They could finish standardizing those damn rules later. Right now all she needed was to have Korra there to embrace her which the Avatar did without a word passing between them.


End file.
